Car audio - the sales pitch

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 7545 times.

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #20 on: 6 Jan 2013, 04:14 pm »
I test drove a 2013 Corolla yesterday and I was somewhat disappointed with the car and have started wondering if Toyota has been cutting corners to save a buck. When the dealer asked me what I thought about the car, I told him that the 2013 Civic was a much better vehicle and this is coming from someone who has owned a Corolla for 13 years.

Test drive #2 was a 2013 Toyota Camry - now this vehicle definitely put a smile on my face, a very stable car on the road and the performance indicator was around the 50 mpg mark on the highway @ 110 Kph (for our American friends, remember that the Canadian gallon is a little bigger so this is why you see these kinds of mileage ratings).

Our dealer's offer to purchase was not great at all - and this would of been the second new car he would of sold to us in an 11 months time span so I am going to shop around.

Be well...

Chicago

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #21 on: 7 Jan 2013, 04:20 am »
There is little in life I dislike more than buying a car.  You would think for the second largest purchase most people make the dealers could come up with a better experience.

Good Luck and I hope it goes well,

Mike

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #22 on: 7 Jan 2013, 06:09 pm »
There is little in life I dislike more than buying a car.  You would think for the second largest purchase most people make the dealers could come up with a better experience.

Good Luck and I hope it goes well,

Mike

Thank you Mike and I would most certainly agree with you. Another annoyance is the "options game," or perhaps a better term would be the Option Pit. The price of the vehicle is slowly inflated by options and they try to make you feel better by telling you that it is only an extra $40 or so per payment (read bi-weekly over 96 months). One sales rep told me that "as a reward," and if I financed a car this month that my first payment would not be due until the spring! When I inquired as to why anyone would want to defer car payments for months he replied, "it will help people payoff their Christmas credit card bills"  :duh:

On another note, can you imagine carrying a new car payment for 96 months and then you have to start putting money into the thing at around the 5 year mark while still making payments? Another automotive manufacturer is offering a 5 year term amortized over 7 or so years - my goodness, they are mortgaging cars now!

Be well...

srb

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #23 on: 7 Jan 2013, 06:30 pm »
On another note, can you imagine carrying a new car payment for 96 months and then you have to start putting money into the thing at around the 5 year mark while still making payments? Another automotive manufacturer is offering a 5 year term amortized over 7 or so years - my goodness, they are mortgaging cars now!

Some years ago a local car dealer in my town sold a van to a retired couple, and to reduce the monthly payments, set up 20-year dealer financing which included loan origination fees.  The couple found the payments to still be too high for their budget, so the dealer refinanced the vehicle to a 30-year term with loan origination fees once again!
 
The couple became so distraught that the husband parked the van and refused to pay.  A local legal aid organization came to his rescue and got the dealer to take back the vehicle (I believe there were illegalities in financing a vehicle for that long of term anyway) and refund money paid, as the local newspaper articles were creating a nightmare of a public relations mess for them.
 
Not sure how they expected the couple to pay off the vehicle as they were already of retirement age.
 
Steve

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #24 on: 7 Jan 2013, 07:36 pm »

Some years ago a local car dealer in my town sold a van to a retired couple, and to reduce the monthly payments, set up 20-year dealer financing which included loan origination fees.  The couple found the payments to still be too high for their budget, so the dealer refinanced the vehicle to a 30-year term with loan origination fees once again!
 
The couple became so distraught that the husband parked the van and refused to pay.  A local legal aid organization came to his rescue and got the dealer to take back the vehicle (I believe there were illegalities in financing a vehicle for that long of term anyway) and refund money paid, as the local newspaper articles were creating a nightmare of a public relations mess for them.
 
Not sure how they expected the couple to pay off the vehicle as they were already of retirement age.
 
Steve

Sometimes auto dealers "mess" with the wrong individual  :eyebrows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvGcbUpidSg

Be well...

Robin1

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 48
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #25 on: 8 Jan 2013, 01:19 am »
just reading about the new RLX Acura with  " 14 speaker Krell audio system "

Robin

PRELUDE

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #26 on: 8 Jan 2013, 02:49 am »
Hi Laundrw,
Here is few tips and things that I have never done and been good for me to get the deep discount from car dealers but some people or I should say close friends call it luck.
Actually,you are looking for the car at the right time.Do your search and make the final decision which one you would you like to buy but do not buy it rightaway.
Now here what I do but of course, I hate to go to the dealer and I use the car till dies then I go for the new one or most likely I take the 3 years old one.
1.I never pay any attention to what they offer because I believe any time could be good deal if you do not let them to fool you.
2.I never finance the car through the dealer.Even if they offer you -0-interest they will play around the price and you will end up to pay the premium price which at the end the car would cost you more then the one that you had interest on the loan.If you know the price of the car that you like,go to the bank and apply for the loan now you got more power to talk in the dealer then them.
3.Never buy the car in sunshine.Just wait for snow storm and show up at the dealer in the early morning right in the storm and tell them that you want this car and you pay this much right now and do need on financing.
I Have never paid them for what they asked.Only one time I could not win and I did not buy the car.

Good luck in your search :thumb:

Elizabeth

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 2737
  • So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #27 on: 8 Jan 2013, 02:52 am »
I wanted the exact car and the ony one like it in 100 mile radius was 60 miles away in a small farm town. At that time Focus, especially manual tranny ones were in real short supply, plus the yellow color I wanted was a hard one to locate anyway, and the fact the one there had the options I wanted....
I got online to them and went that day.
So since they knew i was after that car only, I did not have a lot of dickering.
I did get $850 off for contacting them via internet. And $500 for financing with Ford Credit at 3.9%
So four years zero down (yeah not even a penny) $550. month is fine by me.

My old car a 13 year old Ford Contour SVT I owned since new (and beat into the ground) was near worthless... It still was a nice car for a cheap daily driver.. so i sold it to a friend for $800.

I am real big on getting the exact car i want, not just whatever junk they could not unload until they nearly give it away... LOL
I really Loved that Contour SVt.. And I love the Focus too. I still 16 months into owning it look at it lovingly.. and will go down to just look at it sitting in the basement garage.

((as for going in a snow storm. Geez  iwould NEVER buy a car without a really careful look at it. Snowstorms usually make that inspection pretty hard. Most of the time dealers will bend over backward to fix stuff before the sale. After??? they just laugh.))

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #28 on: 16 Jan 2013, 07:38 pm »
I loathe shopping for a new car...

Purchasing my audio gear was so much simpler than looking for a new car :duh:

Oh well, it looks like I have narrowed the final two candidates down to the Honda Civic EX and Toyota Camry SE. What makes this decision a little more difficult is that these cars are not in the same category, i.e Civic/Corolla and Accord/ Camry and the comparison can be skewed a little bit. Both are great vehicles while the Camry uses a little more fuel with its 2.5 litre engine compared to the Civic's 1.8 engine and the Camry is $5K more than the Civic.

Another factor for consideration is that my local Toyota dealer's service department is great while the local Honda dealer's is horrible. Ironically, I will not purchase the cars locally as the savings for the Camry is around $3K while the Civic is $2k - and all this for driving 20 minutes to other dealers. I am a little upset at my local Toyota dealers sales department as this would of been our 2nd new vehicle purchase from them in 10 months.

Camry SE



Civic EX



Be well...



bregez

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #29 on: 16 Jan 2013, 10:10 pm »
The Camry is a nice car, but in the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety test (small overlap test) the institute rated the Camry as poor.  All other vehicles in its class received a good or acceptable rating.  Here is a video of the test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLxWLqlVT1Q
Notice how the front wheel was pushed back into the footwell and the steering column goes right rendering the drivers airbag useless.
People sometimes overlook safety when purchasing a new car.


Napalm

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #30 on: 17 Jan 2013, 01:57 am »
I would suggest you also check the insurance premiums for the models you're looking at.

I fondly remember that many years ago I had a rare glimpse of reasoning and noticed that Civic + Civic insurance was about the same as Accord + Accord insurance.
« Last Edit: 17 Jan 2013, 11:59 am by Napalm »

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #31 on: 17 Jan 2013, 06:02 pm »
The Camry is a nice car, but in the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety test (small overlap test) the institute rated the Camry as poor.  All other vehicles in its class received a good or acceptable rating.  Here is a video of the test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLxWLqlVT1Q
Notice how the front wheel was pushed back into the footwell and the steering column goes right rendering the drivers airbag useless.
People sometimes overlook safety when purchasing a new car.

What an awesome video - physics at work  :thumb:

Be well...

Napalm

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #32 on: 19 Jan 2013, 12:29 am »



 :no_see:

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #33 on: 19 Jan 2013, 01:08 am »


 :no_see:

And to think that I was happy to see you back Nap  :wink: :D

Be well...

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #34 on: 2 Feb 2013, 06:51 pm »
Well the search for a replacement vehicle is finally over and as I look back over the last month or so, I cannot help but wonder if there is anything to loathe more than searching for a vehicle? Ethics, morality and integrity seem to be missing in the majority of sales representatives, which were sitting across the desk from me in many dealerships. It is certainly refreshing when you meet an honest sales representative.

One sales rep comes quickly to mind. I asked him for a vehicle quote and was highly competitive - I asked him if he would verify this price with his sales manager, which he did. I dropped back in a few days later with the intent of purchasing the vehicle and the price on the contract   was thousands of dollars over what he quoted during my last visit. When I brought this up, he said that "he would work for me" to get a better price. I could not help but to look at this person as a bare faced liar. I got up and walked out of the dealership with him following me saying he could get a better price.

Other unpleasant items are all of the "hidden" fees that seem to show up on the final price sheet - one dealership actually ate up the trade-in value in these fees. 

It seems that every product seems to have its very own specific short comings with respect to sales reps, audio, for example, was "snobbery," and unfortunately, this was evident more often than not. Perhaps it is the unpleasant sales reps that are more prevalent in your memory.

Be well... 
 

Stu Pitt

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #35 on: 4 Feb 2013, 06:13 am »
What did you buy?

sebrof

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #36 on: 4 Feb 2013, 12:10 pm »
Well the search for a replacement vehicle is finally over and as I look back over the last month or so, I cannot help but wonder if there is anything to loathe more than searching for a vehicle? Ethics, morality and integrity seem to be missing in the majority of sales representatives, which were sitting across the desk from me in many dealerships. It is certainly refreshing when you meet an honest sales representative.
I never have an issue shopping for new cars. If you know what you want and know what you will pay I find it goes smoothly. To me, the sales person is there to let me drive the cars I choose to test drive, and then to say yes or no to my price. If they know you know what you're doing they generally don't screw around with you. I've had them tell me I need a certain option, or try to upsell me. I just tell them I don't want that, or even ignore them and ask a totally unrelated question. They quickly get the idea.
Buying a vehicle that's on the lot makes it a lot easier also.
Maybe it's because there are several dealerships for the same make within driving distance around here, I don't know.

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #37 on: 4 Feb 2013, 03:59 pm »
I never have an issue shopping for new cars. If you know what you want and know what you will pay I find it goes smoothly. To me, the sales person is there to let me drive the cars I choose to test drive, and then to say yes or no to my price. If they know you know what you're doing they generally don't screw around with you. I've had them tell me I need a certain option, or try to upsell me. I just tell them I don't want that, or even ignore them and ask a totally unrelated question. They quickly get the idea.
Buying a vehicle that's on the lot makes it a lot easier also.
Maybe it's because there are several dealerships for the same make within driving distance around here, I don't know.

One other interesting thing that I noticed was their financing hooks - some manufacturers thought that they were doing the consumer a favour by giving you a eight year loan or no payments for three months. Then they tied this into the options pitch by telling you it will only cost an extra thirty or so dollars per loan payment.

 :duh:

Be well...

Laundrew

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 7222
  • "Sometimes it rains inside my head..."
Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #38 on: 4 Feb 2013, 04:00 pm »
What did you buy?

Hello Stu,

I purchased a Civic.

Be well...

Chicago

Re: Car audio - the sales pitch
« Reply #39 on: 4 Feb 2013, 08:27 pm »
Hope you enjoy the Civic.  I am with you and always happy for the ordeal to end.  The car world seems to have no moral compass and if they do it never points north.

Mike